The Big Zhang Theory

A stylist, photographer, writer, creative director and law graduate with a 1.5 million-strong following and an ear for piano: Margaret Zhang is no ordinary social-media star. Genevra Leek meets the fashion phenomenon

I never wanted to like Margaret Zhang, in the way that I never really wanted to like any of the new wave of bloggers who were infiltrating the industry at the time when we first met. It was 2012 in New York and we were sitting waiting for the Calvin Klein Collection show to start. We recognised each other enough to introduce ourselves and I listened to her talk of her commerce/law degree and how she’d taken time off from her studies to be there, mildly amused that I’d been sat next to an 18-year-old student who’d made her way into the exclusive inner sanctum of fashion with little conventional training and naught, I assumed, but a knack for posing for the camera. More fool me.

I’m pretty sure Zhang didn’t care whether I, or anyone else, liked her. She wasn’t trying to win anyone over. She was no flash-in-the-pan hobbyist, just in it for the free stuff. She was playing the long game, whether she knew it or not. Hers was a creative pursuit that started with a side-project style blog, Shine By Three, conceived in her teens as a way to share her thoughts and passions with a small-but-loyal following. Eight years later, she’s one of the most sought-after and prolific slashies on the international scene, shifting seamlessly between writing, photography, styling, modelling and creative direction, collecting awards and courting some of the world’s biggest luxury brands (and Kanye West) with her millennial viewpoint and 1.5 million-strong following.